Mercenaries/Session 6
20:00 < abudhabi> Right. Who's here? 20:00 < Remmon> You're not. 20:00 < abudhabi> I'm totes here. 20:00 < Remmon> You're not, I don't see you in Mumble. 20:00 -!- Remmon is now known as Arthur 20:01 < Arthur> ED! 20:01 -!- Waitin2Kryzzyx is now known as Kryzzyx 20:01 < Kryzzyx> ((bootin up the lappy)) 20:01 -!- Irssi: #traveller: Total of 7 nicks ops, 0 halfops, 0 voices, 7 normal 20:02 -!- maz is now known as natsu 20:03 -!- Irssi: #traveller: Total of 7 nicks ops, 0 halfops, 0 voices, 7 normal 20:03 < abudhabi> Where's the pilot? 20:03 -!- BurnEdOutLappy gwug@Nightstar-d1iul7.customer.broadstripe.net has joined #Traveller 20:04 < Arthur> Not online yet. Will probably be here shortly 20:06 -!- TaranTatsuuchi dragons-tam@Nightstar-rk1l1r.il.comcast.net has quit timeout: 121 seconds 20:06 -!- TaranTatsuuchi dragons-tam@Nightstar-rk1l1r.il.comcast.net has joined #Traveller 20:14 * BurnEdOutLappy runs around punching things with his buggy arms and kicking things with his buggy legs 20:14 < BurnEdOutLappy> oops 20:14 -!- BurnEdOutLappy is now known as Slick 20:15 -!- Liam Liam@Nightstar-nc2ac1.range86-140.btcentralplus.com has joined #Traveller 20:15 -!- Liam is now known as nev 20:16 < abudhabi> Last time, you defeated a couple of stowaway assassins. And you still have one of them in the brig/airlock. 20:16 < abudhabi> !roll 1d4: Arthur, nev, natsu, Ed 20:16 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "Arthur, nev, natsu, Ed": (1). Total: 1. 20:17 < abudhabi> Arthur: You're on watch when the ship exits jumpspace. 20:17 < Arthur> I will check our (t)rusty sensors for any unwelcome surprises. 20:17 < Arthur> !2d6+2: Sensors 20:17 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "Sensors": (1+2)+2. Total: 5. 20:17 < Kryzzyx> !roll 1d5 20:17 < PainBot> Kryzzyx rolled "1d5": (3). Total: 3. 20:17 < Kryzzyx> !roll 1d4 20:17 < PainBot> Kryzzyx rolled "1d4": (3). Total: 3. 20:17 * Arthur also sounds the jump exit to get people awake and to their stations 20:17 < abudhabi> Arthur: You can't make heads or tails of this. Where are the planets? 20:18 < Kryzzyx> ((oic what happened. my bad)) 20:18 < abudhabi> Kryzzyx: I'm fair sure you're healed up now. 20:18 < Kryzzyx> ((sweet)) 20:18 * nev will stand up, put down his book and begin walking to the bridge when the jump exit sounds 20:18 * natsu heads to the armoury to gear up 20:19 * Kryzzyx snores a strange buggy snore and gets interrupted while filling his air sack when the alarm wakes him. *Snnorrrrrrrkkkkcclllklklklklk-*GASP* 20:19 * Kryzzyx rolls out of his bunk and scuttles around on six limbs to find his pants. 20:20 * Kryzzyx in the cover of darkness shifts into his new warddrobe and snaps his goggles tight over his otherworldly insectoid eyes. Once fully combobulated, he heads to his designated position. 20:21 < abudhabi> You congregate on the bridge. 20:21 < Arthur> "Can someone see if this thing's working right?" 20:22 * Arthur gestures at the sensor console 20:22 < nev> "why, whats up with it? 20:22 < abudhabi> Edu+Sensors. 20:22 < Arthur> "Not showing anything." 20:22 < Kryzzyx> "I don't know nothin' about how to read it, but I can tinker with it's parts to see what's wrong." 20:23 < natsu> !2d6+1-1: Sensor thingymajig 20:23 < PainBot> natsu rolled "Sensor thingymajig": (1+4)+1-1. Total: 5. 20:23 * Kryzzyx steps up to the machine and taps the readout experimentally before side-stepping around the side to undo the access panel. 20:23 < abudhabi> natsu: Weird. There's like nothing showing up on the scan. Well, aside from distant stars, but otherwise, the place looks empty. Strange! 20:24 < natsu> "Hmm, looks clear, but there is nothing close on the screen" 20:24 * Arthur will try to figure out where they are in space 20:24 * Kryzzyx crouches by the side and holds Slick up to the screws or whatever serves to secure the casing in place. 20:24 < abudhabi> Arthur: EduAstro. 20:24 < nev> ".... soooo, we're in deep space?" 20:24 < Arthur> !2d6+2: I hope not 20:24 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "I hope not": (1+5)+2. Total: 8. 20:25 * Slick scuttles up Kryzzyx' arm and examines the screws. It holds out it's manipulators and changes the toolbit on the end a few dozen times before settling on one that is best suited for the purpose and begins to detach the access panel. 20:25 < Slick> its 20:25 < abudhabi> Arthur: You're not! According to your calculations, you're in the Nekrino system. Of course, these calculations and the immensity of space make it so that the margin of error can be large in absolute terms. 20:26 < Kryzzyx> "Ok Slick. I want you to go over the major components and find out where the malfunction is." 20:26 < Arthur> "We're in the right system at least, just need to find the main world." 20:27 * Arthur has another go at the sensors to try and find the nearest stellar objects 20:27 < Arthur> !2d6+2: Sensors+edu 20:27 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "Sensors+edu": (5+2)+2. Total: 9. 20:27 < nev> "so we're in system but the sensors are so mangled they can't even detect the system's primary star?" 20:27 < Arthur> "Or far enough out from the primary that it's hard to make out." 20:28 * Kryzzyx looks up at the others. "Wait. So is this thing broken, or are we just somewhere other than where we thought we were?" 20:28 < nev> "if you're far enough out of a system you cant detect a giant ball of plasma, you're not in system - least thats my motto when it comes to insterstellar travel" 20:29 < abudhabi> Arthur: You figure out what was wrong. The sensors were callibrated for being near the plane of the ecliptic. Recalibration yields your location: approximately 2 days above the plane, with the primary shining directly up a blind spot in your sensor coverage. 20:29 < nev> "if Arthurs Asto Calculations are right its broken, or we're not using it properly" 20:29 < Arthur> "There we go. Found our location." 20:29 * Kryzzyx wiggles his antennae while examining Arthur, apparently weighing his trust in his calculations. 20:30 * Kryzzyx shrugs and puts Slick into the machine. "Figure out what's wrong, buddy." 20:30 < Arthur> "It was set up wrong, all good now." 20:30 < Kryzzyx> "...Oh." 20:30 < Arthur> "Nev, get us headed to the primary please. We have a VIP to drop off." 20:30 * Kryzzyx taps his foot by the machine in a way that seems to signal slick in a certain way. 20:31 * Slick crawls out of the machine looking mildly annoyed. It looks up at Kryzzyx for confirmation, and after a nod begins to replace the access panel. 20:31 * nev sits down at the console and fires up the M drive 20:31 < abudhabi> DexPilot, then! 20:31 < nev> !2d6+3 20:31 < PainBot> nev rolled "2d6+3": (1+1)+3. Total: 5. 20:33 < abudhabi> nev fires up the M-drive. The ship shudders. Then there's a popping sound from the rear of the ship. The fire alarm begins to blare. 20:33 < Arthur> "Power down the engines." 20:33 < nev> "SON OF A" 20:33 * nev immediately cuts the power 20:33 * Arthur heads down there 20:34 < abudhabi> The M-drive is on fire. Pamaux is wielding two fire extinguishers, trying to make it stop being on fire. 20:34 * natsu heads to the common room. 20:34 * Arthur assists with the extinguishing 20:35 < Arthur> @Fire crew to engineering. Stat@ 20:35 * Slick gets freaked out. 20:35 * natsu checks the VIP is ok, and that the prisoner is securely confined before heading to engineering 20:36 -!- BurnEdout poo@Nightstar-d1iul7.customer.broadstripe.net has joined #Traveller 20:36 < abudhabi> The VIP is okay. She inquires as to what is happening. 20:36 < abudhabi> The prisoner is still in the airlock. 20:36 * BurnEdout grabs Slick up mid-task and races off towards the fire, stopping to grab whatever fire fighting equipment he can find on the way. 20:36 -!- BurnEdout is now known as Kryzzyx` 20:36 * Kryzzyx` grabs Slick up mid-task and races off towards the fire, stopping to grab whatever fire fighting equipment he can find on the way. 20:36 * nev heads from the bridge to engineering, grabbing another extinguiser 20:37 < natsu> "UUh just some enine problems Pamaux will get it sorted" 20:37 < abudhabi> "I see." 20:37 < abudhabi> "I'll be in my room." She withdraws as the smoke starts drifting up in the common room. 20:38 < abudhabi> Meanwhile, the rest of you put out the fire. Now the M-drive is covered in foam. There's smoke everywhere. 20:38 -!- Kryzzyx poo@Nightstar-d1iul7.customer.broadstripe.net has quit timeout: 121 seconds 20:39 < nev> "errrr..... do we have any spare parts?" 20:39 * Arthur lets Pamaux evaluate the damage while he tries to get rid of the smoke. 20:39 * natsu grabs his gauss rifle from the armoury 20:39 < natsu> and takes up position outside the cargo bay 20:40 < abudhabi> Pamaux opines that it'll probably work after it's cleaned up. And the fuel leak patched up. (One hit to the M-drive.) 20:40 < Arthur> "We've got duct tape." 20:40 < Arthur> "Now I think I've got a marine to chew out." 20:42 * Kryzzyx` sets Slick back to cleaning duty. 20:42 * Arthur goes to chew out Natsu about his failure to respond promptly to a fire alert. 20:42 < abudhabi> Edu+Mechanic for clean-up. 20:43 < Kryzzyx`> !roll 2d6+1 20:43 < PainBot> Kryzzyx` rolled "2d6+1": (6+4)+1. Total: 11. 20:44 < abudhabi> !roll 1d6*10: Minutes 20:44 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "Minutes": (3)*10. Total: 30. 20:44 < abudhabi> It'll take only 30 minutes to get it spotless again. And duct-tape that hydrogen leak. 20:46 * Kryzzyx` relaxes a bit and lets Slick do the 'heavy lifting'. 20:48 < abudhabi> So. Are you firing up the M-drive again? 20:48 * nev fires up the m drive with some trepidation 20:48 < Arthur> That's Nev's job. 20:48 * Kryzzyx` covers his eyes and ears with his various appendages as the engine goes back to life. 20:48 < nev> !2d6+3 : lets not blow up the M drive when we try to move this time 20:48 < PainBot> nev rolled "lets not blow up the M drive when we try to move this time": (1+6)+3. Total: 10. 20:49 * nev thinks this bucket of bolts probably needs a proper maintenance program 20:50 < abudhabi> You turn around and start heading for Nekrino. It is a fairly densely planeted system. Aside from the mostly-water world where people live, there's five other rocky planets, four gas giants and a planetoid belt. 20:51 * Kryzzyx` examines the water world with great interest, it being something completely unlike other planets he has visited 20:51 * Arthur informs the VIP as to our ETA 20:51 < abudhabi> You pick up imperial beacons. There appear to be three light warships here; probably scouts or corvettes. 20:52 < abudhabi> As Nev can tell you, there's a naval base here. The ships are fast response couriers and scouts, in case of invasion. 20:52 * nev continues piloting towards the planet, looking forward to getting back home for a bit 20:53 < abudhabi> As Nev can also tell you, this world has no government. There's the spaceport, the town around the spaceport, and a bunch of homesteaders scattered around the planet. 20:54 < Kryzzyx`> ((nev: do you tell us these things? :P)) 20:54 < nev> ((yes, if you ask)) 20:55 * Kryzzyx` doesn't think to ask about the political climate of the planet they are going to, not being a particularly thoughtful type. 20:55 * Kryzzyx` simply observes from the space-porthole 20:55 * Kryzzyx` wiggles his face bulges curiously. 20:55 < natsu> ((https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ltex7PT75tiAQfaTzBVuOT8mOk_iqqAoAYF0XYwQGY4/edit#gid=0)) 20:55 < Arthur> "We'll want to land at the starport, unload our cargo there and then see about getting some fuels." 20:56 < nev> "yep, shouldn't be too hard" 20:57 < abudhabi> The planet is smaller than Scaladon, but there's more total land area, much less people, and the oceans aren't made of poison. 20:58 < abudhabi> Nearly three days later, you arrive. You presumably ask for clearance to land, and get it. 20:59 < abudhabi> Pilot roll to land. 20:59 < nev> !2d6+3 20:59 < PainBot> nev rolled "2d6+3": (5+2)+3. Total: 10. 20:59 * Arthur gets in the co-pilot seat 20:59 * Kryzzyx` goes to collect Slick as he presumes the cleaning duties should be finished by now, and finishes tending to the damage as best he can until they have access to new parts. 21:00 * Kryzzyx` does this until landing. 21:00 < abudhabi> You touch down, no problems. 21:00 < abudhabi> !roll 1d6*1000 21:00 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6*1000": (6)*1000. Total: 6000. 21:00 < abudhabi> The berthing cost is 6000 Cr. 21:00 < Kryzzyx`> ((lol, I guess as Duties Kryzzyx has become the Groundskeeper Willy of the team)) 21:01 * Arthur pays up, sets Nev to brokering and goes to get the VIP. 21:02 < abudhabi> She's already packed. "We seem to have come to the end of our contract, Captain. Well done." 21:03 < Arthur> "Yes we have. 't was a pleasure working with you." 21:05 < abudhabi> She hands you 55000 Cr in thousand-credit bills, and a plastic business card. "As agreed, fifty thousand, plus bonus. If you ever do business with Sylean Interstellar in the Trojan Reach, I'm certain mentioning my name will do more good than harm." 21:06 < Arthur> "I'll remember that." 21:06 * Kryzzyx` sees the VIP off having made some weird friendship with her. 21:07 * nev will wait for the VIP to leave the ship and then arrange to leave and go see some of the brokers on planet - its better to do business face to face 21:07 < abudhabi> "Farewell, gentlemen." 21:07 * Arthur escorts the VIP off the ship and goes to see if there's some money to be made with his prisoner or any new jobs around here. 21:07 < abudhabi> She leaves with her robot in tow. 21:08 < abudhabi> Arthur: How are you finding these things out? 21:09 < Arthur> Why, a chat with whoever runs the starport to start with. 21:09 < nev> ((what class starport is this?)) 21:09 < abudhabi> A. 21:12 * Kryzzyx` goes back to annoyind Dr. Carpet. 21:12 < abudhabi> To find a buyer online: Edu Computers +6. 21:12 < Kryzzyx`> *annoying 21:12 < abudhabi> To find a buyer in person: Int/Soc + Broker +6. 21:12 < nev> !3d6+1+6 : find a buyer 21:12 < PainBot> nev rolled "find a buyer": (5+1+5)+1+6. Total: 18. 21:12 < abudhabi> You find one! 21:12 < nev> "hurrah" 21:13 < abudhabi> To negotiate: 3d6 + Int/Soc + Broker + sale modifiers - purchase modifiers. 21:13 < abudhabi> Textiles get +2 above everything else. 21:14 < nev> !3d6+2+1+2 : textiles 3d6+int+broker+additional modifer from advice at purchase 21:14 < PainBot> nev rolled "textiles 3d6+int+broker+additional modifer from advice at purchase": (5+1+1)+2+1+2. Total: 12. 21:15 < abudhabi> 110% base price. 21:15 < abudhabi> Do you sell? You don't have to. You could search for other buyers. 21:16 < abudhabi> -1 for every subsequent search. 21:16 < nev> !3d6+2+1+1 : basic ore 21:16 < PainBot> nev rolled "basic ore": (4+4+4)+2+1+1. Total: 16. 21:16 < abudhabi> 135%. 21:16 < nev> !3d6+2+1+1 : Polymers 21:16 < PainBot> nev rolled "Polymers": (5+2+1)+2+1+1. Total: 12. 21:17 < abudhabi> 110%. 21:18 * nev will look for another seller 21:18 < nev> !2d6+2+1+6-1 : Find another buyer 21:18 < PainBot> nev rolled "Find another buyer": (6+1)+2+1+6-1. Total: 15. 21:19 < nev> !3d6+5: Textiles 21:19 < PainBot> nev rolled "Textiles": (5+3+6)+5. Total: 19. 21:19 < abudhabi> Arthur: You find out that the spaceport here mostly services the navy. The commander is an ancient-looking retired navy captain of some stripe. After chatting with the personnel, you find out two possible jobs up your angle. 21:19 < nev> !3d6+4 : basic Ore 21:19 < PainBot> nev rolled "basic Ore": (6+1+2)+4. Total: 13. 21:19 < nev> !3d6+4 : Polymers 21:19 < PainBot> nev rolled "Polymers": (5+5+5)+4. Total: 19. 21:19 < abudhabi> Arthur: One is doing scouting for the military. They want to find out if there's anything untoward happening at Chalchiutlicue, but don't want to send actual imperial forces there. 21:20 < Arthur> Hmm. Interesting world that. 21:20 < abudhabi> Arthur: Another is that something is harrassing homesteaders on the western frontier. Leaves a bloody mess. Some farmers are pooling together money to pay for finding out what it is and killing it. 21:20 < nev> ((Textiles - 200%, Basic Ore 115%, Polymers 200%)) 21:21 * nev will sell the Textiles at 200% - second buyer, Basic ore to the first buyer at 135% and polymers @ 200% to the second buyer 21:22 < Arthur> Those both sound like they should be doable and potentially profitable. I'll go looking for details on the frontier job. 21:22 < abudhabi> nev: Sold! 21:24 * Arthur also arranges some spare parts for Pamaux to fix the M-drive with. 21:24 < abudhabi> Parts cost 10k/dton. 21:25 < Arthur> We'll get 6 dtons. 1 to fix the M-drive, 5 spare. 21:27 < abudhabi> Done. 21:28 < abudhabi> Arthur: You meet with a homesteader spokesman called Jeb Dinah in one of the several saloons in town. He's scruffy-looking, in non-industrial-made clothes. "Howdy!" 21:29 < Arthur> "Good day." 21:30 < abudhabi> "So, I heard you're wanting to hear about the monster, huh? Mister...?" 21:30 < Arthur> "I've heard you've got some trouble with a monster of some sort. My people have guns and body armour." 21:33 < abudhabi> "It all started a month or so ago. It was in one of the new towns, Keydale, it's like six hundred clicks from here. Westwards." 21:33 * Arthur nods knowingly and pulls up a map of the planet on his computer 21:34 < abudhabi> Arthur: The spaceport happens to be on the planet's largest continent, roughly the size of Australia. You pinpoint the location, in the middle of nowhere. 21:35 < Arthur> "Please, do continue." 21:35 < abudhabi> "The mayor, Scott Scottson, was throwing a party one night, in the wake of the harvest festival y'know. Thing is, when the party ended and everyone went to sleep, something came upon them in the night. Broke the barn door, tore out throats. Even took a few of them with it, whatever it was." 21:36 < abudhabi> "We tracked it to the swamps. Couple o' the braver men volunteered to go after it there. They, uh, they never came back out." 21:37 < abudhabi> "After that, it's been back. Irregular like. Every six, eight days, it comes back. Always in the night. Someone dies. The people are scared and are leaving." 21:37 < abudhabi> "The mayor's offering a hundred big ones for whoever's got the balls to find and kill this critter." 21:40 < Arthur> "A hundred grand huh? That'll get you a hunting party, starship and all. I'll need as much in terms of details as you can get, of course." 21:40 < Arthur> @Natsu, you've got a bioscanner on that gun of yours, right?@ 21:40 < Arthur> @Set it up as broadly as you can. We're going hunting boys.@ 21:40 < natsu> @uhu, and irnv/flir@ 21:42 < abudhabi> "That's about as much as I can tell ya here. I can show you the tracks and such if you give me a ride. I loaned out my gravy plate." 21:44 * nev nev will now be working out the profit he has made and tryign to work out what to buy next 21:44 < Arthur> "Well, no reason we can't bring the ship. I assume you've got a place where we can set down near your village?" 21:45 < Arthur> @Nev, you got our cargo sold?@ 21:46 < nev> @ayep, made a tidy sum, looking at getting some more stuff for the next planet, where are we off to next?@ 21:46 < abudhabi> "Sure. The corn's all got harvested. Plenty of room." 21:46 < Kryzzyx`> @What are we hunting?@@ 21:47 < Arthur> @We're heading to a little village 'bout six hundred clicks west. They've got a man eating monster infestation we're going to clear up.@ 21:47 < nev> @that dosnt sound like a place I can sell 60 tons of cargo... guessing my next shopping spree will have to wait till we've done this?@ 21:48 < Arthur> @Let's hope it won't take too long.@ 21:48 < Kryzzyx`> @A monster?! Oh no. What's the thing look like?@ 21:48 < Arthur> @If we knew that, they wouldn't be paying a hundred grand for us to deal with it.@ 21:49 < Kryzzyx`> @I thought they wanted it dead, not an artist rendition...@ 21:49 < nev> @thats.... a lot - I'm guessing this isnt going to be easy then@ 21:49 * Kryzzyx` shrugs and grabs his flamethrower and Slick before heading out to join the others. 21:49 < Arthur> @It ate a barn full o' people, a hunting party and it's coming back every few days to kill more. I expect it'll be pretty easy.@ 21:50 < Kryzzyx`> @ Sounds like my uncle Ricky. @ 21:50 < abudhabi> Jeb helps himself to a drink while Arthur subvocalizes. 21:51 < nev> @that sounds.... creepy - theres not any annimals here I've heard of that will go near human habitations - most steer clear....@ 21:51 < Arthur> "Our ship's currently being unloaded and maintained. We should be good to go within a few hours." 21:52 < natsu> @I'm sure 4mm Gauss rounds will make plenty of holes@ 21:52 < abudhabi> "Oh. Ah, meet you here in two, then?" 21:52 < Arthur> "Sounds good to me." 21:52 < nev> @yeh, thats usually why they dont go near human habitations - most of us are damned well armed@ 21:53 * Arthur goes to see about renting a small track vehicle or grav flyer to go romping around in the swamps with. 21:53 < Arthur> @This thing likes to come at night, so I'm assuming it's taking people in their sleep. And even if it is sturdy, I've got a fourty mill grenade launcher with anti-armour rounds.@ 21:55 < nev> @I understand, what I'm saying is this is new and unknown, this is my home and I've never heard of anything like this, which means we should probably be carefull - it'll be interesting to find out exactly what has happened@ 21:55 < abudhabi> Arthur: There was a trader in these parts a couple of months back and unloaded a whole bunch of Grav Floaters on the world. People here call them 'gravy plates'. Cost 500 Cr to buy one. 50 Cr/day to rent. 21:55 < Arthur> How big are they? 21:56 < abudhabi> Think a slightly larger hoverboard. 1 rider. 21:57 < abudhabi> There are also all-terrain ground cars. You don't find tracked vehicles available. 21:57 < Arthur> How will those all-terrains cope with the swamp we might go and visit? 21:58 < abudhabi> They'll probably do fine until you drive into a bog that's too deep. Then they'll sink. 21:59 < Arthur> We'll come back for one if we need one I guess. 21:59 * Arthur gets the ship ready to go and goes to pick up mister hill billy 22:00 * Arthur will also introduce himself and the crew. 22:00 < abudhabi> Jeb gets on board. Everyone else is presumably on-board too. 22:01 < abudhabi> "Mighty fine ship you got here. Reminds me o' the time I got here in '08." 22:01 * nev would like to buy one of those grav floters 22:01 < abudhabi> nev: Done. Pages 103 and 104. 22:03 < nev> ((thanks)) 22:03 * nev will come aboard with a grav floater tucked under his arm 22:03 < nev> "So, where we headed?" 22:03 < Arthur> "Nev, let's get us in the air." 22:04 < nev> "sure, just point the way" 22:04 < Arthur> "Keydale. Six hundred clicks west." 22:04 * nev will head to the bridge and take the ship to keydale 22:04 < abudhabi> You presumably get clearance. Then roll DexPilot +4. 22:04 < nev> !2d6+3+4 22:04 < PainBot> nev rolled "2d6+3+4": (1+2)+3+4. Total: 10. 22:06 < abudhabi> You lift off and make a leisurely ride to Keydale. It lies on a plateu that has mountains on one end and swamps transmuting into ocean on the other. Between are forests and agricultural fields. The town probably has about 500 inhabitants. 22:07 < abudhabi> Jeb: "There she is." 22:07 < nev> "pretty, very pretty" 22:07 < Arthur> "Set us down there. Between the town and swamps." 22:07 < nev> "taking her down" 22:07 * Arthur points at an empty field between the town and swamp 22:08 < abudhabi> You settle down. The ship's landing gear buries itself half way in the soft soil. 22:09 * Arthur goes to check that the ship won't sink any deeper. Because giving the farmers a free plowing is fine, but leaving the ship as an ornament in their fields is not part of the plan. 22:10 < abudhabi> Arthur: Probably not. Resistance to sinking increases geometrically with buriedness. 22:10 < Arthur> Excellent. 22:10 * Arthur lets mister Dina off the ship and has a look at them tracks. 22:11 < Arthur> @Natsu, kryzzyx. With me. We're going to have a look around. Nev, can you go scoop from fuel from the ocean and meet us back here?@ 22:11 < nev> "can do" 22:12 < nev> ((how far away from the water is the ship?)) 22:12 < abudhabi> Jeb takes you towards the town. You're intercepted by a delegation from the town. Five people, headed by a somewhat overweight man in finer clothes. Everyone is armed. You see a couple of gauss pistols, shotguns, an automatic rifle and grenades. 22:13 * Arthur is in full kit. Cloth, vacc suit (helmet by my side). Gauss pistol in a holster, grenade launcher on my back. 22:13 < abudhabi> "Mayor Scottson's the name," says their leader. "You found us some monster hunters, Jeb?" 22:13 < abudhabi> Jeb: "Sure did. They want to see the mess." 22:14 < Arthur> "Mister Scottson, I'm Arthur Steinman. These are some of my crew. Natsu, Kryzzyx." 22:14 * natsu is in full kit, Combat armour, Helemet inc Hud, gauss rifle in hand, laser pistol holstered, and stunfist 22:14 * Arthur gestures at Natsu and Kryzzyx. 22:14 * natsu nods curtly 22:15 < Arthur> "And yes, we'd like to see the scene of some of these attacks. See what we're dealing with here." 22:16 * Slick bows to Mister Scottson in a way he's seen some humans do in introductions before. 22:16 < Slick> ((oops)) 22:16 * Kryzzyx` bows to Mister Scottson in a way he's seen some humans do in introductions before. 22:17 < abudhabi> "Come on, then," the mayor turns towards the nearby building. It turns out to be a large barn or granary. "We've cleaned up since the attack, but nobody's been too keen to disturb the place much." 22:17 < abudhabi> The door is off its hinges, leaning against a wall. 22:17 < abudhabi> So. Int + Investigate? 22:17 < Arthur> !2d6+2: Int+Investigate 22:17 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "Int+Investigate": (2+3)+2. Total: 7. 22:18 < natsu> !2d6-3-1: o'rly? 22:18 < PainBot> natsu rolled "o'rly?": (1+2)-3-1. Total: -1. 22:18 < Kryzzyx`> ((I can jack of all trades it)) 22:19 < Kryzzyx`> ((with jack of all trades +1 I reduce the negative modifier to -2, correct?)) 22:19 < Arthur> ((Yes)) 22:19 < Kryzzyx`> !2d6-2 Jack of All Trades: Investigate! 22:19 < PainBot> Kryzzyx` rolled "Investigate!": (1+2)-(1+1-1). Total: 2. 22:19 < Kryzzyx`> ((poop)) 22:20 * Kryzzyx` is taken in by a particularly interesting looking tree. 22:20 < Kryzzyx`> "Is this it?!" 22:20 < Kryzzyx`> ((well double poo)) 22:20 * Kryzzyx` points at the tree! 22:21 < Arthur> "Kryzzyx, behave." 22:21 * Kryzzyx` looks at Arthur and nods. 22:21 < abudhabi> You find little of use. The place is messed up. There's many month-old bloodstains. You don't find any actual identifiable tracks, unfortunately. 22:22 < Arthur> "I'm told this thing attacks about every week?" 22:23 < abudhabi> "Ate Jones five days ago. Ol' Tim and his wife were with him, and survived. They say they don't know what happened. All three were armed to the teeth, everyone is these days. Didn't help any." 22:24 < Arthur> "Then our first order of business will be to set up surveillance. If we can catch this thing coming up towards the village we won't need to go romping around in the swamps to catch it." 22:25 * Kryzzyx` wanders around the crime scene not deriving any particular insight from it 22:25 * natsu is busy checking out the collection on weapons on display by the locals 22:25 < Arthur> "Right. Natsu, Kryzzyx. Let's get ourselves some rest. It's gonna be a long night." 22:25 < abudhabi> "This better work. 'Cause if there's any more killing, I'm not sure I can hold the place together. Only a hundred of us left now, and pretty much everyone's considering getting the hell out of dodge." 22:25 < abudhabi> The mayor spits. 22:26 * nev will have been refuling the ship whilst they are investigating the scene of the killings 22:26 * Kryzzyx` looks at Arthur incredulously. "Arent...we kinda...gonna get eaten?" 22:26 < Arthur> "If you can get any volunteers to stand guard overnight, that will be helpful." 22:26 * Kryzzyx` looks out at the swamp nervously. 22:26 < abudhabi> "You got 'em." 22:26 < Arthur> "Kryzzyx, if we get eaten overnight while we're standing guard, we clearly weren't doing our jobs well enough." 22:26 * Kryzzyx` holds Slick out to Arthur. "Now Slick. You wake me up if anything big comes looking to eat us!" 22:27 * Kryzzyx` sets Slick somewhere with high visibility and starts constructing a nest below it. 22:27 < Arthur> "We'll have the ship on overwatch, radar cranked all the way up. That should give us a decent early warning system." 22:27 < Arthur> "If the ship picks anything up, we'll intercept it. If live capture looks doable, we'll go for that. I'm sure your scientists will be happy to have a living specism to examine." 22:29 < Arthur> "If live capture looks risky, we'll go graduating response. Start with laser rifles and escalate up from there." 22:29 < Arthur> "If we don't pick it up before it gets within a hundred or so meters, we open up with everything we've got all at once. No point taking risks." 22:30 < Kryzzyx`> * "I bet Professor Carpet would like to it for study!" 22:31 < abudhabi> nev: DexPilot for wild refueling? 22:31 < nev> !2d6+3 22:31 < PainBot> nev rolled "2d6+3": (4+5)+3. Total: 12. 22:31 * Kryzzyx` double checks his weapons for functionality and sets them in a location that are highly accessable from his sleeping position. 22:31 < abudhabi> Nev fills her up with unrefined fuel. 22:32 * natsu gets set to get some pre-combat rest, opting to remain in his combat armour 22:32 * Arthur gets some rest as well. We need to be awake all night after all. 22:32 < abudhabi> !roll 1d6 22:32 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6": (2). Total: 2. 22:33 < abudhabi> Roll Int+Sensors, whoever's manning them. 22:33 < Arthur> !2d6+2: Sensors! 22:33 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "Sensors!": (5+1)+2. Total: 8. 22:34 < abudhabi> You tether the prisoner in his undergarments to a tree a bit away from town. The locals look at you funny. 22:35 * nev looks at you funy 22:36 < abudhabi> Jeb: "What's that guy done to ya?" 22:37 < Arthur> "Tried to kill me and the VIP we were hired to protect." 22:37 < abudhabi> "Oh. I guess I shouldn't feel too bad for 'im." 22:37 < Arthur> "If he lives, we'll probably turn him in back on his home planet for the bounty. And then they'll execute him I guess." 22:41 < abudhabi> Time passes. Arthur spots something moving in from the direction of the swamp. It's a weak detection, showing up on infrared. 22:41 < abudhabi> (It is night.) 22:41 < Arthur> @Got a contact coming from the swamp.@ 22:41 < abudhabi> The planet has no moon, so it's almost pitch black. 22:41 < nev> @joy@ 22:42 < nev> @how big do you think it is?@ 22:42 < abudhabi> Those on the ground: Int + Recon -6. 22:42 < abudhabi> Those with sensory equipment can roll Int + Sensors -2. 22:43 < Arthur> (How big's this thing look?) 22:43 < natsu> !2d6+1-3: sensors int, 22:43 < PainBot> natsu rolled "sensors int,": (3+6)+1-3. Total: 7. 22:43 < abudhabi> Arthur: Going by the sensors, it's something like a 3m spheroid cloud of distortion. 22:44 < abudhabi> Anyone else want to roll? 22:44 < Arthur> @Looks about three meters, I'm not getting a good reading on it.@ 22:45 < Arthur> "Nev, get ready to lift and put our spots on that thing." 22:45 * nev powers the engines and begins to take off 22:51 < Kryzzyx`> ((brb)) 22:51 -!- AD abcd@Nightstar-vjor36.tmi.telenormobil.no has joined #Traveller 22:51 < AD> You begin to power up the engines. Natsu's goggles do nothing. 22:51 < AD> Arthur: The thing accelerates! It crosses the remaining distance to the prisoner in seconds, it must be going at about 150 km/h! The prisoner screams. 22:51 * Arthur lights it up and points a turret at it. 22:51 < natsu> @no visual here@ 22:51 < Arthur> @Spots coming up now@ 22:53 < AD> The prisoner's location is lit up. You see *something* there. It's vaguely humanoid, perhaps, except it seems to distort light. It's like trying to look at something through a meter of murky water in the dark. 22:53 < AD> The locals begin shooting immediately. 22:53 * Arthur joins in. With a slightly larger calibre weapon 22:54 < Kryzzyx`> ((back)) 22:55 < abudhabi> Arthur: Roll Gunnery (turret) at -2 for range. 22:55 < Arthur> !2d6-3-2+1: Beamy laser! 22:55 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "Beamy laser!": (5+5)-3-2+1. Total: 6. 22:56 < abudhabi> Arthur makes a long, steaming ditch across the fields. The post-harvest remnants of plants catch fire. 22:56 < abudhabi> Roll initiative! 22:56 < Arthur> !2d6+1: Initski 22:56 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "Initski": (1+3)+1. Total: 5. 22:56 < natsu> !2d6+1: init 22:56 < PainBot> natsu rolled "init": (2+1)+1. Total: 4. 22:57 < nev> !2d6+2 : initiative 22:57 < PainBot> nev rolled "initiative": (6+1)+2. Total: 9. 22:58 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6+1 22:58 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6+1": (5+1)+1. Total: 7. 22:58 < Kryzzyx`> ((What is init again?)) 22:58 < Kryzzyx`> !roll 2d6+0 22:58 < PainBot> Kryzzyx` rolled "2d6+0": (3+6)+0. Total: 9. 22:59 < abudhabi> Nev, Kryzzyx, monster, Arthur, natsu. 22:59 < Arthur> "Nev, block its path of escape." 22:59 < Kryzzyx`> ((vaguely humanoid, but is it human sized or lots bigger?)) 22:59 * nev will just keep the spots focused on the creature this turn 23:00 < abudhabi> Kryzzyx`: Maybe twice as big as a human. Certainly bigger. 23:00 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6: Forgot the locals 23:00 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "Forgot the locals": (1+5). Total: 6. 23:01 < abudhabi> Corrected: Nev, Kryzzyx, monster, locals, Arthur, natsu. 23:01 < abudhabi> Kryzzyx`: What do? 23:01 * Kryzzyx` hoists his flame rifle at the ready, sparking the pilot light on his lit pipe, and aims at the beastly beast, or where he presumes it will be since he has trouble focusing on it! 23:01 * Kryzzyx` fires! 23:02 < abudhabi> Does your flame rifle fire up to 50m away? 23:02 < Kryzzyx`> ((hmm, it says range shotgun so probably not)) 23:02 * Kryzzyx` holds the rifle at the ready and scuttles into a position that gives him some cover. 23:04 < abudhabi> Kryzzyx`: If you want to shoot, you can. -2 for range, +4 for flamer. 23:04 < Kryzzyx`> ((ok)) 23:04 * Kryzzyx` fires at him! 23:04 < Kryzzyx`> !roll 2d6+4 23:04 < PainBot> Kryzzyx` rolled "2d6+4": (3+2)+4. Total: 9. 23:04 < abudhabi> Hit by 1. 23:04 < Kryzzyx`> "Die you freaky...light...bendy...monster...thing!" 23:04 * Kryzzyx` draws first blood! 23:05 < abudhabi> Roll damage. 23:05 < Kryzzyx`> !roll 3d6+6 23:05 < PainBot> Kryzzyx` rolled "3d6+6": (6+1+2)+6. Total: 15. 23:06 < abudhabi> The monster erupts with a piercing roar. Through the distortion, you can see that it has caught flame... and so has your bait, being right next to it. The psychopaths among you might enjoy the dual symphony of agonies. 23:08 < abudhabi> The monster crosses the distance between it and Kryzzyx` in the blink of an eye, clawing at the alien bug! Do you dodge or parry or nothing? 23:09 < abudhabi> Dodge gives -1 to hit, but also penalize you next round. Parry gives -weapon skill to hit, but penalize you next round. 23:10 < Kryzzyx`> ((I dont have dodge, and I dont see parry as a skill)) 23:10 < Kryzzyx`> ((so I presume its just a dex)) 23:10 < abudhabi> (Dodging doesn't use a skill. You just declare that you use it.) 23:10 < Kryzzyx`> ((dont have any melee either. :P)) 23:11 * Kryzzyx` tries to dodge! 23:11 < Kryzzyx`> !roll 2d6 23:11 < PainBot> Kryzzyx` rolled "2d6": (2+5). Total: 7. 23:11 * Kryzzyx` makes a screamy noise as the thing is evidently a lot faster than he anticipated! 23:11 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6+6-1: Claw! 23:11 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "Claw!": (3+1)+6-1. Total: 9. 23:11 < abudhabi> !roll 3d6+1: Damage 23:11 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "Damage": (1+3+6)+1. Total: 11. 23:12 < abudhabi> Make an Endurance roll, Kryzzyx`. 23:12 < Kryzzyx`> !roll 2d6+1 23:12 < PainBot> Kryzzyx` rolled "2d6+1": (1+5)+1. Total: 7. 23:13 * Kryzzyx` screams something about woggle bugs not tasting very good as he is thrashed bodily 23:13 < Kryzzyx`> ((mesh armor protection 2)) 23:14 < abudhabi> Kryzzyx` finds himself with three enormous wounds across his chest-equivalent. The claws cut through the light armour as if it's not there. 11 damage. 23:14 < abudhabi> Kryzzyx` faints. 23:15 * Kryzzyx` gets gashed open as he cries. He hopes Slick protects him! 23:15 < abudhabi> (That's 10 damage to your Endurance, and 1 damage to Str or Dex. And you're unconscious.) 23:15 < Arthur> "Nev, cargo bay hatch open, now." 23:15 * nev does as he is commanded, cargo bay opens 23:16 < natsu> @fuck this thing is fast@ 23:16 < abudhabi> The locals start firing! Mostly uncoordinated, panicked auto-fire. 23:16 < abudhabi> !roll d6,10 23:16 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "d6,10": (2), (4), (6), (6), (1), (2), (6), (5), (1), (1). Total: 2 4 6 6 1 2 6 5 1 1. 23:17 < abudhabi> It's a good thing Kryzzyx fell down, else he might have been accidentally shredded. 23:17 < Kryzzyx`> ((See? It's GOOD that Kryzzyx is easily wounded! :P)) 23:17 < Kryzzyx`> ((soon you'll see its good that I don't fight very well and am in the way too!)) 23:18 < abudhabi> A couple of them even hit it! 23:18 < abudhabi> !roll 3d6-3,2 23:18 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "3d6-3,2": (4+3+1)-3, (1+1+2)-3. Total: 5 1. 23:18 < abudhabi> The monster is hit, but it's not obvious if it's seriously hurt. It's still on fire. 23:19 < abudhabi> Nev, Kryzzyx, monster, locals, *Arthur*, natsu. 23:19 * Arthur gets up, walks the couple of meters to the cargo bay hatch and starts shooting at the nasty critter. 23:20 < Arthur> !d6,4: Auto fire bitch! 23:20 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "Auto fire bitch!": (2), (2), (3), (2). Total: 2 2 3 2. 23:20 < Arthur> Blah. 8 and 7. 23:21 < Arthur> !3d6+2: AP 23:21 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "AP": (3+5+3)+2. Total: 13. 23:21 < abudhabi> The monster howls in pain again. 23:21 < abudhabi> natsu! 23:22 < natsu> !d6,6: AutoGauss 23:22 < PainBot> natsu rolled "AutoGauss": (4), (6), (6), (5), (5), (1). Total: 4 6 6 5 5 1. 23:24 < natsu> 13,13,10 23:25 < natsu> !4d6+5:(AP) 23:25 < PainBot> natsu rolled "(AP)": (2+3+6+1)+5. Total: 17. 23:25 < natsu> !4d6+5:(AP) 23:25 < PainBot> natsu rolled "(AP)": (6+3+2+4)+5. Total: 20. 23:25 < natsu> !4d6+3:(AP) 23:25 < PainBot> natsu rolled "(AP)": (4+4+4+5)+3. Total: 20. 23:26 < abudhabi> The massed autocannon fire finally puts the thing down, ripping the carcass into several pieces. The distortion field redeces upon its demise. 23:27 * natsu rushes over to Kryzzyx` and drags him away from the corpse towards the ship 23:27 < abudhabi> A local: "Did we get it?!" 23:27 < abudhabi> Mayor: "Hold your fire!" 23:27 < abudhabi> Jeb: "What the shit is that?" 23:28 < Arthur> @Nev, put us down so we can get Kryzzyx aboard. He got hurt again.@ 23:28 * Slick 'helps' Natsu drag Kryzzyx. 23:28 * Arthur heads over to check out the carcass 23:28 < abudhabi> Arthur: Which part? 23:29 < Arthur> The largest part. 23:29 * natsu works with Slick to get Kryzzyx` to somewhere pamaux can perform some surgery/ healing 23:30 * Kryzzyx` is covered in fresh magenta 'blood' 23:30 < Kryzzyx`> ((noted)) 23:30 < Kryzzyx`> ((ya well...)) 23:30 < abudhabi> Arthur: Looking over the parts, you think it was a four-armed, upright-standing, vaguely humanoid creature. It had claws on every limb and a vestigial tail. A head with a large jaw, full of needle-like teeth. Covered in brownish scale-like skin. 23:30 < Kryzzyx`> ((I'm a stranger in a strange land. I know not from your 'armours')) 23:31 < abudhabi> Got Medicine or some kind of biological/xenological science? 23:31 < Arthur> (I wish) 23:32 < abudhabi> The villagers congregate to watch the corpse. 23:32 < Arthur> "Well then. Here's your monster." 23:33 < nev> "what was making it so hard to see?" 23:33 < Arthur> "An excellent question. You got any scientists 'round here?" 23:34 < abudhabi> Jeb: "Looks sorta like a hexalizard. Only *huge*." 23:34 < Arthur> "If it's a native species, chances are it's not the only one around. You're going to have to invest in better security." 23:35 < abudhabi> Mayor: "Scientists? Naw, the eggheads don't leave the spaceport." A local: "What about that weird guy with the APC? From last year?" 23:36 < abudhabi> Jeb: "I sure hope you're wrong there, Cap." 23:36 < Arthur> "I sure do as well. On the other hand, the fact that nobody's run into these things before means they're either damned rare or not native." 23:37 < Arthur> "What about that weird guy with the APC?" 23:37 < Arthur> "Any idea where he went?" 23:37 < abudhabi> The mayor looks thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, there was one guy. Passed through, heading west. Drove an amphibious thingamajig. Said he was a surveyor or some crap. We sold him some provisions and sent him on his way." 23:38 < Arthur> "Never came back?" 23:38 < abudhabi> Arthur: The swamp is approximately 50ish km wide and 200ish km long, sort of hugging the coast. 23:39 < abudhabi> It's irregular in shape, but you could say it's maybe 10k square kilometers. 23:39 < abudhabi> Mayor: "Nope." 23:39 < abudhabi> Pamaux revives Kryzzyx` with some smelling salts. 23:40 * Kryzzyx` sputters and sits up 23:40 < abudhabi> Mayor: "You think he might be responsible for this thing?" he kicks a severed clawed arm. 23:40 < Arthur> "Only one way to be sure." 23:41 < Arthur> "I figure we bring this body back to the starport and see if we can't locate this guy." 23:42 < abudhabi> "You do that. Tell you what, you've already earned your reward, but if you'd do that, I'd very much appreciate it." 23:43 * Arthur collects pay and body, loads both on the ship 23:44 < abudhabi> Pay is in the form of an imperial bank check to be collected at the starport. 23:44 < abudhabi> (Prisoner burnt down.) 23:44 < abudhabi> We'll end here. 23:44 -!- nev Liam@Nightstar-nc2ac1.range86-140.btcentralplus.com has quit [NS Quit: Leaving] 23:44 < Arthur> ((Poor tree)) 23:44 -!- Arthur is now known as Remmon 23:44 < Kryzzyx`> thanks for game 23:44 < Kryzzyx`> poor tree?! 23:44 < Kryzzyx`> What about poor kryzzyx?! 23:44 -!- natsu is now known as maz 23:44 < Remmon> Yeah. The tree never did anything wrong in all this. 23:44 < Remmon> Kryzzyx shoulda gotten some armour. 23:45 < abudhabi> Didn't you make some money, making you not-poor? 23:45 -!- AD abcd@Nightstar-vjor36.tmi.telenormobil.no has quit [NS Quit: leaving] 23:45 < Kryzzyx`> and did carpetman notify that he wouldn't be here this time or was is another no show? 23:45 < Remmon> Far as I know, he's no showed again. 23:45 < Kryzzyx`> >:/ 23:45 < Kryzzyx`> thats a shame. I like his char 23:45 < abudhabi> Note to self: see last session's note. 23:46 < Remmon> What was last session's note? 23:46 < Kryzzyx`> * Note: Kryzzyx is awesome 23:46 < abudhabi> You skipped out on your raft damages invoice! 23:47 < Remmon> Yes. We'll have to consider seeing about paying that.